Chapter 13 (Part 2)

Back in Seoul, Jinwon visited Seongtae’s company.

Despite the secretary’s claim that Seongtae wasn’t in, Jinwon remained in place, waiting.

After some time, the door to the director’s office opened, and Seongtae walked out.

Thinking Jinwon had left, Seongtae flinched in surprise when he saw Jinwon rise from his seat.

“Damn it, you’re still here?”

“I’ve been waiting.”

Though Jinwon’s tone was calm, his face exuded a chilling intensity.

Seongtae deliberately avoided Jinwon’s gaze, raising his voice.

“Can’t you see I’m busy? Leave while I’m still being nice.”

“Should I have gone to the police station instead? Instead of coming here?”

At Jinwon’s composed words, Seongtae quickly glanced around, checking his surroundings.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“So you do care about being embarrassed.”

Jinwon’s sarcastic tone made Seongtae explode.

“Why would I be embarrassed about anything?”

“From the elevator accident to the rental car incident…”

Seongtae frowned and scratched his ear with one hand.

“…Should I investigate it thoroughly? That’s what I came to ask.”

Startled, Seongtae tried to hide his unease and spat out his response.

“Why are you asking me? Investigate all you want. Why are you coming here to bother someone who has nothing to do with it?”

Jinwon’s expression turned icy.

Feeling pressured by Jinwon’s presence, Seongtae yelled.

“What now? What else?”

With an unreadable expression, Jinwon spoke in a low but clear voice.

“I never said the accidents happened at the hotel.”

Seongtae flinched. His eyes darted around wildly before he finally managed to speak.

“Well, it’s Jinseong Hotel, part of my family’s business, so of course I’d know about it!”

Shouting, Seongtae glanced at Jinwon, who was staring at him intently.

“Damn it, why do I even have to explain myself to you?”

“I came to say this.”

Seongtae hesitated, stealing glances at Jinwon. Jinwon, in turn, glared at him as if piercing through him. With deliberate precision, Jinwon enunciated every word.

“Seo In-ah. Don’t touch her again. If anything like this happens again, I won’t let it slide.”

With that, Jinwon turned and walked away.

As Jinwon’s back disappeared, Seongtae belatedly started yelling after him.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Then, in frustration, he kicked the carpet under his feet and stomped on it.

“Why is everyone so obsessed with that woman? It’s driving me crazy!”

***

Hye-yoon, observing In-ah’s expression at work, commented,

“Did you not have a good vacation? You look even more tired than before.”

“I’m not tired.”

In-ah retorted.

Letting out a sigh, Hye-yoon replied,

“I’m exhausted. My carefully crafted design proposal got rejected, and now I can’t think of anything new. Have you come up with a new idea?”

“No, I’ll start thinking now.”

Clicking her tongue, Hye-yoon shook her head.

“You must have gone on vacation without a single thought in your head.”

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about anything. She’d only thought about… indecent things.

Ahem. Feeling her face flush, In-ah covered her mouth and coughed awkwardly.

At that moment, Seong-jun entered the office and immediately noticed In-ah.

After being exposed to the breezes of Jeju, she somehow looked even prettier.

Just then, he saw Jinwon exiting the team leader’s office and locking eyes with In-ah.

Seong-jun closed his eyes slowly, suppressing the anger rising within him.

It’s fine. Out of sight, out of mind. There are no exceptions to this rule. It’s a universal truth.

“Team Leader Jinwon!”

Three men in black suits and matching black ties approached Jinwon, blocking his path.

“What’s this about?”

“We’re from the audit department. We need you to come with us.”

All eyes in the office turned toward Jinwon.

Among the gazes, Jinwon’s eyes met In-ah’s. Winking at her, Jinwon followed the men out.

Amid the curious murmurs of the employees, In-ah couldn’t hide her worried expression as she watched Jinwon leave.

“What’s going on? Do you know anything?”

Hye-yoon’s voice didn’t register in In-ah’s ears.

Later, in the pantry, In-ah stood absentmindedly holding a cup of coffee.

“In-ah, is something bothering you? You seem out of it.”

Asked a cleaning lady, looking at her with concern.

Snapping out of her thoughts, In-ah forced a smile and replied,

“No, it’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”

Another cleaning lady entered the pantry and tapped the first lady on the shoulder.

“Did you hear the rumor?”

“What rumor?”

Thinking it might be about Jinwon and the audit department, In-ah perked up her ears.

“There’s a rumor that Team Leader Jinwon is dating someone in the company.”

“Ugh, I thought it was something serious. Wasn’t there already a rumor about him and In-ah?”

“Hahaha…”

In-ah let out an awkward laugh.

“Yeah, it’s probably just another baseless rumor.”

The cleaning ladies didn’t seem convinced.

“Well, he is good-looking. With his looks, height, and voice, what woman wouldn’t fall for him?”

“Maybe, but I prefer someone like our CEO. He’s so charismatic.”

It seemed like the cleaning ladies were about to start debating their ideal types. Realizing it was time to leave, In-ah tried to excuse herself.

“I’ll just…”

But the ladies were too engrossed in their conversation to notice her.

“By the way, the CEO seems to have something on his mind.”

“Shh! I heard he found out there’s a spy in the company.”

“A spy? Like an actual spy? Oh no, what are we going to do? The company’s going to be in chaos. The CEO must be really stressed.”

In-ah felt a ringing in her ears.

A spy? Immediately, she thought of the audit department taking Jinwon away.

It’ll be fine. An innocent person won’t be falsely accused.

In-ah stayed late in the empty office, waiting anxiously for Jinwon.

To be precise, she wasn’t guarding the office—she was craning her neck, waiting for Jinwon to return.

As Sang-wook, who was leaving work, noticed her, he approached.

“You haven’t left yet? You haven’t had dinner, have you? Let’s go. I’ll buy you something to eat.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not really hungry.”

At her firm refusal, Sang-wook’s smile faded.

“You’re not avoiding dinner because you don’t want to eat with me, are you?”

Startled, In-ah waved her hands frantically.

“No, not at all.”

Sang-wook scratched his head awkwardly, stealing glances at In-ah.

“Lately, it feels like you’ve been avoiding me, In-ah. That’s not true, right?”

“Of course not. It’s not like that.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Go Sang-wook turned to leave but suddenly stopped, as if he had just remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, it seems like Team Leader Lee has really gotten caught up in something this time.”

Startled, In-ah raised her voice without realizing it.

“What? Caught up in what?”

“You didn’t know? Oh, I guess you didn’t.”

With an exaggerated gesture, Sang-wook wiggled his fingers and added with a grin,

“I thought you already knew everything. You two seem so close, after all.”

Then, without another word, Sang-wook turned and left. In-ah quickly called out to him.

“Hey, Sang-wook!”

What kind of person stops talking halfway and just leaves?

“Well, see you next time. I’m starving, so I’m off to eat.”

Sang-wook, after saying only what he wanted, left just like that.

In-ah couldn’t figure out the strange atmosphere Sang-wook was giving off, which was different from usual.

***

Late at night, when even the stars were hiding behind the clouds, Jinwon strode into the office, irritably loosening the tie that had been choking him.

Seeing him, In-ah immediately rushed over.

Jinwon, looking surprised, spoke in a gentle tone that was completely different from his earlier expression.

“Were you waiting? You should’ve gone ahead.”

“How could I? What’s going on?”

“Let’s talk while we walk.”

As they walked home together, Jinwon briefly explained to In-ah what he had heard from the audit department.

Upon hearing it, In-ah became indignant.

“What kind of nonsense is that? Bribery?”

“Exactly.”

Seeing Jinwon sigh, In-ah asked with a worried expression,

“Who reported it?”

“They won’t tell me.”